Same day emergency neurology care prevents hospital admissions, enhances inpatient care and reduces outpatient referrals

<h3></h3> The neuro-SDEC (same day emergency care) service is embedded within acute and emergency care at UCLH. It is a consultant-led service seeing over 100 patients per month. A service audit was undertaken from 27th November to 19th December 2023. This aimed to quantify the impact of the service on admission avoidance, inpatient length of stay and reduction of unnecessary tests. The potential impact of the service was also indirectly assessed by reviewing acute neurology admissions that presented out of hours. 126 patients were seen by the neuro-SDEC team, 25 of which had been referred out of hours by the medical or emergency medicine teams for urgent review, 11 of these out of hours referrals (44%) would have otherwise been admitted. Outside the hours of the service, there were 22 patients admitted to UCLH, with a cumulative 55 bed day occupancy. Most of these admissions could have been managed and discharged same day if seen by the service. 2 of these patients were referred to neuro-SDEC to facilitate earlier discharge. This audit highlights that neuro-SDEC streamlines care for patients with acute neurological presentations, reduces length of stay and prevents admissions. The role for an extended evening service is also highlighted.